Argentines American dream goes sour

[orwellian]

You must be one of the few people innocent enough to swallow the K's stories hook, line and sinker. To stay blissfully ignorant, be careful not to talk to people who have seen their lifetime savings vanish, expropriated by the K's in their effort to stay in power.

I thought people lost their life savings due to the crisis brought on by the neo liberal policies

 

[perry]

Sara Sara do you wish to go back to the Menem years when Argentina was the darling of the world? By the end of the 1990s umemployment reached over 25 percent and most of Argentinas assets were privatised at Bargain basement prices. Complaining about the current government seems to be a popular passtime but actions speak louder than words .

I suggest that you see the excellent documentary Memoria Del Saqueo to see what Menems policies created .

http://video.google.com/videoplay?d...9XPBw&q=memoria+del+saqueo+pino+solanas&hl=en#

 

[SaraSara]

I was not a Menem supporter, but even his corrupt regime did not damage Argentine institutions like the Kirchners have done.

 

[malbec]

Malbec, I'd say the life in the US is easy - too easy. Yes, things are getting harder and I believe that the standard of living is going to gradually decline but compared to Argentina and most countries, life there is extremely easy. I say that to Americans all the time and they get upset because few have any context but their own. My aunt turned 65, picked up the phone and called the Social Security Administration to ask for her 'state pension'. After five minutes on the phone the 'tramites' were finished and within a month she received, via direct deposit to her bank account, her first lifetime monthly payment of USD $1,500. A friend lost his job and has decided to wait one year until he turns 66 and can collect his Social Security and private pension. Meanwhile he receives 'Unemployment Compensation' from his state. I don't know the amount but he admits that it is good and is covering a large part of his bills. It will last around 40 weeks, maybe more. By that time he will be covered by Social Security and Medicare. The latter is basically socialized medicine for those 65+. These are just a couple of examples of the ease of life in the US and I mention them to point out how spoiled Americans are. I find them sometimes the hardest people to do business with in Argentina because they are just not used to the inefficiencies of most countries in the world. They expect a lot because they have so much and they are used to it as some sort of birthright. By contrast many Europeans are more flexible.

Sergio, I was talking about Argentines emigrating there without having much and sometimes not even legal residency. The examples you mentioned are about people who have worked all their lives there.

 

[gusgutier]

I was not a Menem supporter, but even his corrupt regime did not damage Argentine institutions like the Kirchners have done.

Humm.... To force change constitution for his re- election, false senators to vote selling YPF, selling weapons during Ecuador_Peru war counts?

 

[steveinbsas]

However, most of you are illegal in Argentina. Would you ever cut a deal with the Argentine police to snitch on your fellow illegales. If so, what reward would you expect to see? A DNI maybe??????

I seriously doubt that that Argentine police give a witches tit about the immigration status of any of us, and they certainly have no power to grant a DNI, but it's a good point, nonetheless.

 

[malbec]

Menem was sure a ladrón too. But I agree that the KKs live in the past, are intolerant and have no respect for the institutions. Everyone with a different opinion is called a golpista.
Plus: they have no idea about economy. They always talk about the 'model'...not even the most loyal kirchnerista know what the hell the 'model' is! And then you have patoteros like A.Fernández and Moreno who threatens the companies or those who dare increase the prices.
And lastly all those 'social plans'. They are not given directly to the people who need them, but rather to the punteros and other parasites who later distribute them (of course after retaining a good share of them). This drives the expenditures high up to the sky...and then there is no cash and they need the reserves.
Ah! and all those dark businesses involving property in Patagonia...those who claim there is a need for redistribution have become rich buying state property for pennies. Why don't they start redistributing what they posses?

I don't even care that much about the last point, they are corrupt. No idea whether we will ever find a president who is not corrupt. But the KKs are just incompetent!

 

[Quentin.Daniels]

be careful not to talk to people who have seen their lifetime savings vanish, expropriated by the K's in their effort to stay in power.

This is another statement showing that you have no idea what you are talking about. The K's never stole anything from anyone, what I assume you are referring to is when they changed all the DOLLAR accounts and converted them into PESOS when the crisis hit, this only affected the very rich people in Argentina and it was the right thing to do, just look how this dirty money was made in the first place.

 

[sergio]

Sergio, I was talking about Argentines emigrating there without having much and sometimes not even legal residency. The examples you mentioned are about people who have worked all their lives there.

OK, I see your point but it sounded as though you were saying that life is not so easy in the US - and I believe it is for those who are legal - at least compared to the rest of the world. For illegals it is tough but the US has MILLIONS of them. Admittedly, Argentina is better off than Mexico but there are Argentines who dream of the opportunities they would have as legal residents / citizens of the US and who want to live in a more orderly and predictable society. Not that the US is perfect but it is comparatively disciplined with rule of law like Germany, the UK and some other countries.

 

[sergio]

This is another statement showing that you have no idea what you are talking about. The K's never stole anything from anyone, what I assume you are referring to is when they changed all the DOLLAR accounts and converted them into PESOS when the crisis hit, this only affected the very rich people in Argentina and it was the right thing to do, just look how this dirty money was made in the first place.

No it did NOT affect only the rich. I know plenty of middle class people who were SERIOUSLY affected. People who had their life savings lost. One friend and his wife, elderly people, took the government to court and won. They had to pay a lawyer and recovered about 80%. The rest went into bonds that they will never see. The loss of that money was a crisis for them and they really suffered with anxiety and worry. They are NOT rich. They were very middle class people who have to be careful with money. There were lots of others like that. the TRULY rich only lost a little, if any, money. They had their money outside of Argentina or protected in ways that the government could not touch.